The War of the Dark Scribes
by Sapphire Knight
Summary: This Gundam fic is in an alternate timeline bringing to light the heroic actions of Kibe, Ming, Tania, and Brandon.
1. Disclaimer

The ideas for this fic came from darkscribes.org. I have been asked to continue the story of Brandon and his Merc group The HouseCards. This will seem very random at first, untill I get more information. The story will develop as I add more chapters and do some shuffling. Please forgive the inconvenience. 


	2. Noriko Found

"She's an Elepath. Someone who can speak to and understand electronic entities." Ran spoke slowly and softly to his own reflection in his drink as the audio recorder processed his voice and his thoughts. "The most advanced case on record. She can understand and control a MS just by touching it, hack into the most powerful and secure computers, and develop new forms of technology just by studying readouts and charts. That's why they want her... dead." The young leader of the infamous merc group gathered his thoughts as small bubbles rose in his drink. With all the colas he drank, most of his crew laughingly said he was as bad as a New Type. Of course no one knew of his past involvement in the Jion Human Advancement and Development projects. No one here truly knew who he was anymore. Normally he would be down at the bar celebrating the success of another raid with his friends, but today, he was alone in the hospital ward watching over the most recent 'guest' to his ship and staring coldly at his own reflection. "A few days ago, we were hired to do a raid on some Jion scientific facilities, easy stuff. You know, something we do without Heavy Armors, no unnecessary fire. That sort of thing." Ran paused, recalling the events piece by piece. "No one was prepared for what we were to experience. Dead, everyone was dead. They were attacked a few hours before. I didn't even see the fleet leave on radar, really pro. Nothing like the skirmishes we have around here. No, they meant business. The orbital facility was wasted, literally blasted to shreds. Bodies were floating around. The airlocks must have been breached. I've seen this sort of thing before, but, never like this. They were noncombatants. Wearing lab coats and stuff. I... Things like this aren't supposed to happen, you know? But we still had a contract. I lead the team in on foot. Nothing much left though. Most of the damage was from the outside. The others didn't even board the facility. There were a few survivors, and we moved them to our ship. From what they were willing to tell us, the platform was an orbital research facility. What they researched, they wouldn't say. Jion paid them, and they researched, simple enough. We salvaged what we could. A couple of thou worth in credits anyway. I copied the remaining data files from their central computer to our remote data storage and maintenance system. Something to read through on one of those 'rainy days' anyway. We were leaving when I picked her up on my scanners. She's lucky I installed onboard scanners in my Pixie. When I got to the wasted core fighter, I could barely recognize it. Looked like a prototype or something new. Another pilot left for dead. It happens from time to time. I could never leave someone to die out here, no matter whose side they were on. When I got back to K1, I had the meds look after her. She looked pretty bad. I didn't tell anyone else." Ran paused again as he reached over to straighten a few of the carts and data files he had brought with him and began to page through them. "I found her in the databanks of the science platform. Her name is Noriko, a New Type. 19 yrs old, 5' 8", 125lbs. In the reports, she has two sides, or personalities, if you will. Her first, prominent personality is that of a child. Innocent, obedient, sweet, everything that one would want in a girl. Her second, destructive personality prefers to be called Noriko Pilot. This is the side that would be tested, sent into combat, tortured. They would keep her drugged because of the dangerous unpredictable nature of this second personality. The drug they used is code labeled 43601STK, an experimental drug, and I've never seen anything more dangerous, unstable, nor deadly. Something far more powerful than anything they used on me. It's a mental poison, a drug used to kill the mind, and it appears that it's the only thing that had any effect on her anymore. She was born... no... Bred on the platform for the sole purpose of science. The advancement and research of latent natural and enhanced New Types for the use of combat. She's a fourth generation New Type, and the reason the facility was destroyed. Before the facility was attacked, they sent a message to their Jion suppliers. In this message they claimed to have discovered the natural Elepath ability in their 'test' subject Noriko. She is the first sane living sentiment being to develop and moderately control this ability, ever. That message was intercepted by another group. And the platform was destroyed. It seems that I'm the only person who has this information now." The girl next to him started to stir slightly and then fell silent again. "When I first brought her aboard, I was afraid that moving her outside of the stasis of the core fighter might kill her, so I had the cockpit of the core fighter removed and brought here to the med labs, the rest has been sent down to my shop, where I will examine it further." Ran slowly got up and ran his hand across the shell of the cockpit. "This is the most difficult decision I have ever had to make." Ran watched the unconscious pilot's shallow breaths leave small clouds on the cockpit glass. "She is dangerous, and as long as she lives, she will be a threat to all of humanity." Ran firmly grasped the power coupling supplying energy to the frail cockpit. " I cannot allow that." Ran paused looking down upon her face, and slowly watched a tear fall across her cheek. "And yet, I am the only one here who knows. No one else but me would know of her pain and suffering." Ran shivered as he realized that at this very moment, he held her life in his hands. Not just the life of an experimental creature, but the life of another human being. Someone who has been through hell and back, and now she couldn't even defend herself with speech nor action. "I have nightmares too Noriko, but where you have succeeded beyond their wildest hopes, I am only a failure." Ran stopped for a moment, thinking back to his New Type training. Back when Jion was still a formidable political power, back before the Dark Scribes war. "If I did anything to you. I would be betraying everything I am. I cannot do this. You are just like me. I wonder if you feel it too, this bond that we all share." Ran placed his free hand over the glass cockpit window as if to wipe the tear from her cheek before slowly releasing his grip on the power cord. The girl inside the cockpit began to move again. Ran slowly reached over to the release mechanism for the door and the glass hatch slid back. The red haired girl slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times, she was looking right at Ran. "Welcome to the Klepto1, Noriko." Ran smiled as he offered her his hand. She took it and slowly pulled herself out of the cockpit. Stumbling a little, she embraced Ran warmly and began to cry uncontrollably. "Welcome home." Ran whispered softly as he held the newest member to the HouseCards in his arms. 


	3. NT Biologs

Zion NT medical log: Unstable/Missing NT  
Noriko: Nt/Lv:9   
Height: 5' 8"  
Weight: 125 lbs  
Hair: Red  
Eyes: Red  
Blood type: AB  
Age: 19  
Measurements: 32/23/34 (Note: Scientist was slapped when further measurements were attempted to be taken.)  
She shows two distinct different personalities.  
Noriko Pilot, The NT Pilot who Pilots the NZ2 for the merc group, The HouseCards. Call signs: Three of Swords, or Three. This personality is fond of only two things, Destruction and her group leader Ran. Overpowering and psychotic, she has been known to accidentally destroy friendlys who "Get in the way". However she will not fire upon anyone from her Merc group. When not Piloting, this personality looks down upon non-NT persons aside from Ran. She has a wealth of engineering knowledge and spends most of her time tinkering with her NZ2 and Ran's NZ while she is in this personality. Noriko Pilot is a result of how others have treated her before she was found by the HouseCards, and has an undying thirst to prove itself a capable pilot and engineer. Violence, anger, and Mechs often trigger this personality. She retained all her previous memories but does not talk about them, as they bring up nightmares of the past.  
Noriko, A member of the HouseCards, a Merc group. Silent, innocent, she is almost never seen apart from Ran. Noriko is the childlike result of the NT process. What few memories she has are of Ran. She will silently hang onto his arm and follow him almost everywhere. She is inseparable from Ran except when Ran tells her to do something, which she will follow unerringly. She barely speaks and when she does it is soft and almost inaudible. If she becomes separated from Ran for any reason and cannot get back to him. She will silently sit down on the floor and wait for him. She will start to cry if she cannot get to him within 15min and will accept help only from people she knows know Ran and where he might be. Whenever Noriko is not in a suit and Ran is nearby, she often lapses into this personality.  
Current Location: The HouseCards Merc group/Unknown  
  
Brandon(Ran): NT(Boosted)/Lv:1(5)  
Height: 6' 0"  
Weight" 185 lbs  
Hair: Brown  
Eyes: Brown  
Blood type: O  
Age: 21  
Brandon, or Ran as referred to by everyone who knows him personally, headed the Merc group The HouseCards. He was once a canidate for the Jion human developmental experiments before the war of the Dark Scribes, however because of his lack of response to the treatment he has been released with a clean bill of health. since then, he has acted as a strategic advisor with the aide of his militairy history to anyone willing to pay his fees. Only recently has he actually had his group engage in sortiees. Most of the Suits and Armors piloted by this group are heavily customized and used to devastating effect. Pilot of the mothership Klepto1 and the Mobile Armor New Ziel (Call signs: Nine of Swords, Ran, or Nine), he leads the HouseCards through contract after contract. Most groups refuse to hire him because of the unnecessary devastation caused by the NZ and NZ2 whenever they enter a battle and because of the clause of salvage rights unique to this group. He is a revolutionary Mech engineer who specializes in low armor high power Mechs. Unfortunately most of his Mechs are slightly unstable, using very powerful engines and weaponry. He found Noriko during a salvage run after a Zion sortie. She was in suspended animation inside the core fighter of a damaged NT Mech. Abandoned, he signed her up for The HouseCards. Noriko's first memory is of Ran helping her out of the damaged core fighter onto the deck of the Klepto1. She refuses to leave him and Ran has accepted becoming her guardian angel. During combat Noriko has used her NT abilities to slightly boost Ran, allowing him to become aware of his surroundings and granting him slight foresight. Because of this prolonged exposure to an unstable high powered NT, Ran has begun to develop a shared link with Noriko, granting him access to some of her NT abilities although not truly a NT himself, or so we believe.  
Current Location: The HouseCards Merc group/Unknown 


	4. The Contract

A pilot aimlessly wandered around the deck of the Guwaden. This Mothership had been specially modified for the use of the merc group the HouseCards. The artificial gravity was bothering him a little, but he didn't let it show. The halogen lights illuminated his short curly dark brown hair. Light danced off of the crystal lenses of his glasses and cast sparkling light on some parts of the walls. His old fleet uniform contrasted greatly with the menagerie of clothes worn by the other four pilots. He was soon joined by a female pilot with long braided red hair. Her braid bounced merrily behind her at her waist. The red jumpsuit she wore seemed to light up the drab metallic corridor as she firmly embraced his arm and refused to let go. "Noriko, don't you have to practice your marksmanship or something?" The male pilot asked as he turned to look at the girl glomping his arm. She shook her head furiously then rested her cheek on his shoulder as she smiled blissfully. The male pilot sighed and continued his way towards the bridge. "Sir!" Another male pilot with a blond crew cut saluted as He entered the corridor. "Bob, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" The first pilot almost shouted as he stopped to enter the pass code for the bridge door. "Sorry sir, I mean Ran. It's just the uniform reminds me of my old military days and I just..." "Gods, if you didn't sound so much like a cadet, I swear I'd slap you." Ran responded heartlessly as Noriko continued her attachment to her favorite pilot. Soon the electronic doors slid open to reveal the drab, if not practical, command deck. The captain's chair sat empty with various empty soda cans strewn about. To the left of the captain's chair was the navigator's chair, in which the pilot with the blond crew cut went to sit. To the right of the captain's chair sat a girl with long black hair whom was flipping through monitor windows showing the ship's current armaments and shielding values. "You know, you really shouldn't be letting her do that in public, Captain. Or your pilots might just get the wrong idea." A woman with short green hair commented as she entered the bridge. "Mina, does it look like I enjoy having her hang from my arm every chance she gets?" Ran replied as he gently pushed Noriko towards her seat on the bridge. "Don't make me answer that Captain." The green haired woman laughed as she took gunnery position next to the black haired girl. Noriko innocently made her way down to her seat in front of a large touch screen, where she began to softly talk to the monitor. "Noriko will supply the computer with the destination of our next contract." Ran called out as he sat in the Captain's chair and scanned the room. Several large screens in front of him lit up and the entire ship seemed to jump back to life. "Wait, where the hell is Stevens?" Ran shouted as he spotted an empty seat. "Probably crying over the fact that the Captain always has a pretty girl next to him, and that he'll never be nearly as lucky as the Captain." Mina whispered to the black haired girl, whom in turn started to giggle. "I heard that, Mina." Ran glared as he turned his head towards their direction. "But Captain, you know that it's probably true." Mina replied in a singsong voice. Ran just stopped and glared as the black haired girl burst out in laughter. "What'd I miss?" Another pilot shouted as he shambled his way into the room. "Nothing, Stevens." Mina called out sweetly as he made his way to his seat. "You know, you really shouldn't be so mean to him, it's not like you're doing any better." Bob called out. And then there was silence. "Uh, so what's going on?" Stevens asked softly over the deathly silence of the bridge room. "Noriko's going to take us to the next contract. Are we ready to go?" Ran turned to face the main view screen and the rest of the crew. "SIR, YES, SIR." Everyone shouted in unison, except Noriko, whom seemed to be having a very nice conversation with the computer. "Gods! I hate it when you people do that!" Ran shouted as he nearly fell out of his chair. "And we hate it when you wear that stupid uniform Captain." Mina responded as the ship lurched foreword. 


	5. Ran's Escape

Notebook Openfiles "Do we have to be here?" A nervous earth Fed pilot asked as another picked the lock to the prison cells. "Of all the places to be, we just have to break into the most heavily fortified Council space platform on this side of the entire freaking galaxy." The door beeped and slid open. A shot from the third pilot neatly brought down an interrogation droid hiding behind a small stack of crates. "To stop a psycho, we need a psycho of our own." the first responded as they made their way through the chambers. "The new one Council has is strong, and without our leader Amy, how do you expect us to win?" The pilots slowly made their way towards the reinforced cells, reading the names as they went. "Not just a psycho, but a Merc as well. Hey, how much do you think the HouseCards will pay for their leader back?" The third pilot asked. "Don't get greedy. We're here for their NewType, not their captain. That was the deal. The last thing we need right now is a group like the HouseCards at full strength. Man, they're scary." the first pilot stopped in front of one of the reinforced cells. "The only Merc group with enough firepower to destroy a small planet." the second laughed. "Don't laugh about it. You know they could if they had to." The first interrupted. "Without their leader and their strongest NewType, they won't be doing anything like that soon." The second added. "Here. This is where they are keeping Noriko. But why would they have the Mercs' strongest NewType in such a low security cell?" The first pilot asked himself as he began to punch in the password they had stolen from the guard. The door slid open to reveal a sparse cell. In one corner on the bed, a girl was crying to herself. Her red jumpsuit was lightly singed from combat and her long red hair ran unkempt around her. "Go away. You're not Ran. Only Ran can make the pain go away." She cried softly, her voice wracked with pain and fear. A dark blue aura of sadness and pain enveloped her. "And this would be why they have the Mercs most powerful NewType in such a low security cell." The first pilot said as he slowly shook his head. "Well it looks like were going nowhere without this Ran person." "Hm, Ran, or Brandon. Doesn't matter how you look at it. He is the true power behind the HouseCards after all. Without him, Noriko seems useless." The third pilot interrupted. The first pilot turned and began looking for the Space Pirate and Merc. "This girl is the winning key against The Council of Seven?" The second pilot asked the third as he turned to leave. "Well, if we're gonna save him we may as well ask about the reward anyway." The third pilot sighed as he followed and closed the door behind him. "So, now we are saving two psychos? Not just one, but TWO?" the second called to the first as he jogged to catch up to him. "Hm, level three security. Heat sensors, Motion detectors, remote lasers, mines, wall guns, damn. How important is this person?" The first pilot cursed as he stopped in front of the entrance of the maximum security cells. Suddenly explosions rocked the level. "What did you do!?" The third pilot shouted at the first. "I didn't do anything. It's coming from behind this wall!" The first shouted back over the explosions. Alarms blared and red lights flashed. "Warning! Warning! Dangerous pilot escaping Maximum security cells!" Blared callously over the loudspeakers. "What's going on?" The first pilot shouted over the chaos. The wall separating the second and third level cells blasted away throwing the pilots to the ground. A young man stood in the new opening. "BRANDON?!?!" The first pilot shouted in disbelief. "Who are you to call me that?" The young man shouted pointing his canister grenade rifle at the pilots. A red aura reflected in his eyes and his glasses. "Sent by whom?" Ran shouted. "A group who hates Earth Fed..." "NORIKO! THEY'RE AFTER NORIKO!" Ran shouted as he blitzed past the pilots. "We're supposed to save him? We can't even keep up with him!" The first pilot shouted. "Are you sure we NEED these psychos?" The second called out. "This was NOT in the briefing." The third shouted as he dodged a canister grenade Ran fired behind them. "NO!" Ran shouted as he saw two Council solders dragging Noriko from her cell. "NORIKO PILOT! WAKE UP AND FIGHT!" Ran shouted as he launched himself at one of the guards. The ship shuddered as Noriko wiped the tears from her eyes and slowly stood up. The remaining guards panicked and ran. "What are they doing?" The second pilot asked as the chaos subsided. "Well, first, Brandon ran out of canister grenades. Then he body checked one of the guards with the empty canister rifle. Then the other guard ran away. Then Noriko stood up and they have been staring at each other for the last half hour. Oh, the station has pulled a complete lock down and a professional extraction team is coming to get us. Did I forget anything?" The second pilot asked the third. "And Brandon devastated the entire maximum security wing with a homemade canister rifle that he made from parts he scavenged with his emergency tool kit and emergency rations." Pilot three added. "Um, you do know that they're doing an energy transfer, right?" The first pilot asked. Just then Ran collapsed, cloaked in a dark blue aura. "If Brandon has just become Super Depressed, then that means..." Everyone fell silent as a brilliant crimson aura enveloped Noriko. She closed her eyes ad she reached out. "She's calling. It's not safe here." Ran stuttered as he stared at the floor. He was seated at her feet. Slowly shakily, he got to his feet. "I, I'm sorry. I made her take my energy, we are linked after all." Explosions rocked the ship from the docking bay and the cargo bay. "What's going on?" the first pilot shouted as all the doors opened of their own accord. "If you knew her, you wouldn't ask." Ran turned once again to look upon Noriko. "You wouldn't ask." Ran began to stumble towards the exit. "Wait! Where are you going?" The first pilot asked as they followed Ran. "I have to get to my MS." Ran stammered. "Cargo bay, container 34.23/10." "We'll get you there, but what about Noriko?" The third pilot asked. "Noriko Pilot's a big girl. She can take care of herself. Get out while you can, I'll be fine. She's controlling my MA with her Psych. She'll tear this platform apart and get away in my MA." The Pilots found their way to the docking bay with very little resistance, and managed to get out before the New Ziel ripped the platform to shreds.

Pilot One "Pilot one on emergency channel, did you get out safely Brandon? Respond!"

Ran "Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna have one hell of a headache tomorrow though. Next time I'll be psycho and you be super depressed Noriko."

Noriko "Nice try Ran, but you're just a LowJack. You couldn't control this MA with your mind on your best day."

Pilot Two "LowJack, What's that Pilot one?"

Ran "It means I'm almost a NT. I show signs sometimes but I have no powers on my own."

Pilot Three "Ran, what are you piloting?"

Ran "Um, a Gundam Pixie, heavily modified for all travel with Balance wings."

Noriko "Fairy Dust, He he he."

Pilot One "You use a Pixie and you're still alive? Now I'm scared."

Pilot Two "Only now you're scared? I freaked out when he blitzed us with the canister rifle!"

Ran "Sorry about that, I sort of of lost it. A LowJack trait."

Pilot One "Anyway, Switching to main channel. Skeeek. Mothership, Extraction crew returning with its prize."

Mothership "Emergency! Evil S squadron headed your way. It must be their extraction team. Can you survive till we arrive?"

Pilot Three "We'll be able to hold em off unti..."

Ran "HIYAAA!"

Pilot Three "Frick, They're blitzing them! I don't believe this! Ran! Get back here!"

Noriko "Try to stop us and we will not be responsible for any damage done to you. It's all in the basic contract. We'll get you a copy as soon as we get back to the Klepto1."

Pilot Two "Contract, What? What happened?"

Mothership "We've already hired them. Protect our investment!"

Pilot One "Great. Just great. Here we go."


End file.
